Pragmatic, impassioned activism: Groups gather to lay out the stakes for 2024 election in Allentown

ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Late Thursday morning, anyone walking or driving along Hamilton Street in Easton could hear chants of “Si se puede¡” and “The people united will never be divided! The people united will never be defeated!”

As dozens stood of people representing a diverse array of interest groups on the steps of Zion’s Reformed United Church of Christ, the energy and enthusiasm for Kamala Harris and her run for the presidency was palpable.

But this was not fanaticism, as several speakers made abundantly clear over 45 minutes.

The stakes as framed by Make The Road Action PA, Pennsylvania United, CASA In Action, One Pennsylvania, PA Stands Up, Asian Pacific Islander Political Alliance (APIPA), SEIU, POWER, and the Working Families Party would not end with Harris and Tim Walz in the White House.

That would only be the start of their mission.

‘Not a love letter’

“Let me be clear: Our endorsement is not a love letter. It is a demand letter. It is an invitation to work with us instead of against us,” Make The Road Action PA’s Maegen Llerena said to the crowd. “It is a ‘Hey there, Biden forgot the people who elected him.

“Biden forgot about the people who worked day in and day out to make sure he got elected. Do not make the same mistake.”

Highlighting the power of organization, Llerena pointed out there are 650,000 Latino voters in Pennsylvania, and Biden only won the last election by 80,000 votes.

Her group’s 13,000 members could prove vital to addressing the housing crisis which affects 14 out of every 100 homes in Lehigh County, and the problem-laden pathway to citizenship which touches the lives of 11 million Americans.

POWER Interfaith’s Pastor Greg Edwards voice boomed throughout the audience with a commanding presence, demanding attention from attendees and passersby alike as he spoke of the 25,000 members of different races, faiths, classes, and generations throughout Philadelphia, Lancaster, York, the “collar counties,” and the Lehigh Valley, and the important role they will all play in the next election.

“Voting is the first step. Organizing is the next step,” Edwards said. “Without our organized politically progressive communities, we and our people are on the menu, but continue not to have a seat at the table. We must have a seat at the table, and we must be in charge of the menu.”

Edwards called for a “clear, clean pathways to citizenship,” and a need for “elected officials who are trying to build bridges, and not these damn walls.”

And those points of interest require immediate action, Edwards said, pointing out the Democratic Party lacked a plan outside of the immediate election, where Republicans had Project 2025 — a mission statement laden with issues that have sparked fear and ire in many, including the elimination of the Departments of Education and Justice, and the reduction of bodily autonomy for women.

Fight for families

Speaking in Spanish with the assistance of a translator, Make The Road Action PA’s Exquidamia Yapul spoke on the experience of living as a Dominican immigrant in the United States over the past 24 years.

Citing former President Donald Trump’s intent to initiate mass deportation, Yapul said Harris “is more likely to fight to keep families together in Pennsylvania.”

While promoting unity and tenacity to get Harris and Tim Walz into the White House, Yapul also demanded accountability — just as they had before.

“It was our tireless communities that pushed the Biden and Harris administration to end the detention of immigrants and our families, and they closed the Berks detention center, and they took the steps to protect undocumented spouses of U.S. citizens from deportation,” Yapul said. “We did that. We pressured them.

“We hope to continue organizing to pressure the Harrison walls administration to advance policies that provide a path to citizenship to the 11 million undocumented people living in this country.”

Pennsylvania United’s James Walker addressed one of the elephants in the war room of the Harris campaign, stating as an attorney general “a major part of her work did include incarceration,” but adding that she also engaged in multiple efforts to assist in reintegration, job training, employment opportunities, and providing safe, affordable housing

Walker added Harris helped to protect homeowners during the Great Recession with $18 billion in assistance, and the plan to continue addressing housing if she takes the presidency via a $25,000 first-time homebuyer incentive, in addition to fighting private investors from buying homes and increasing rents.

He went on to counter those prospects with Trump’s history of eviction practices, speaking of investigations by the Justice Department for racial discrimination in rental practices.

“By endorsing, mobilizing for and ultimately elected Kamala Harris, we can put ourselves working class families and individuals on track to maintain our democracy, build power and marginal communities and realize the future we are all fighting for. Now. Are we fired up? Are we ready to go?” Walker said to the enthusiastic cheers of the crowd.

One Pennsylvania’s Paulette Whitfield stressed the concept of two potential futures: the “MAGA” one, where public schools are divested “especially for Black and Brown families,” restrictions are placed on reproductive rights for women, and cuts are to Social Security and Medicare.

Whereas with Harris, she hoped to see the elimination of medical debt, an increase in homeownership among younger people, protections against unfair rent increases, support for working families including paid leave and affordable housing, secure women’s reproductive rights, and expand democracy

“It’s about much more than two candidates, Trump and Harris. It’s about fascism versus democracy. We need to vote Dem all down the ballot. We need to win the House and the Senate. So let’s reject the MAGA future and fight for the future that puts us first. when we fight, we win,” Whitfield said.

Opportunity in America

Asian Pacific Islander Political Alliance Director Mohan Seshadri spoke at length of the troubles facing Asian and Pacific Islander communities in America, including the fight to prevent “predatory developers” from taking over Philadelphia’s Chinatown.

Seshadri said Harris has shown support for those communities via her and President Joe Biden’s $159 million Chinatown Stitch project to reunite the divided neighborhood separated by an expressway.

On the other hand, Seshadri said, Trump’s time in office was known for racist rhetoric against Chinese individuals throughout the pandemic, along with an opposition to voting by mail, which many immigrant families utilize to mindfully select a candidate with family members helping to translate.

Going on, Seshadri stressed that a third of the Asian American voters his organization spoke to in Pennsylvania expressed cease-firere and arms embargo in Gaza as a top priority for the presidency.

And with the increased rate of deportation for southeast Asian refugees over the past year, Seshadri said action is a necessity for survival, adding his group intends to knock on 500,000 doors and call five million homes to engage with voters in 22 languages to spread the word.

“If this isn’t the rosiest picture of an endorsement, I’m sorry. But our communities need a candidate they trust to fight for them. We believe that Kamala Harris can be that candidate. We know that Donald Trump will never be that candidate. His vision for our future is anti-Asian, anti-immigrant, anti-democratic, and just anti-American,” Seshadri said.

“Kamala Harris’s vision includes homes we can afford, our families staying together, able to support each other, and a future free from violence and intimidation. And that is why we are supporting Kamala Harris to be the first Asian American president of the United States.”

SEIU BJ 32’s Deledda Ramos — who spoke in Spanish, which was translated later by a volunteer — told the story of how she and her husband came from the Dominican Republic because “America is the land of opportunity,” opportunity she has seen come to life thanks to her union and the support of Biden and Harris.

“Kamala Harris, a child of immigrant parents from Jamaica and India, represents the diversity we need in our leadership. Her story shows that anyone, regardless of background, can aspire to the highest positions of power,” Ramos said.

“The only thing that will reform immigration in our country is policy. Harris supports a path to citizenship expanded eligibility for Temporary Protected Status, and most recently took action to ensure that U.S. citizens with noncitizen spouses and children can keep their families together.”

She added that under Biden and Harris, SEIU workers have secured increased wages and improved working conditions, points which Trump has not supported during his presidency or campaign.

“Harris and Walz are for the working people because that’s where they came from. Trump and Vance want themselves and their billionaire buddies to get richer,” Ramos said.

At this point, the rally saw its only counter protect — or more of a catcall, rather — when a driver shouted “Vote Trump!” as they passed by, leading to boos from the crowd, and one man responding with “We fired Trump!”

CASA in Action’s Eziquiel Medina also presented in Spanish — the speech was translated after he concluded — introducing himself as a young immigrant from Ecuador, a working-class man who helps his family and pays his taxes.

Medina focused on his concerns over Project 2025, as he said it will him, his family, and immigrant communities throughout the country, all of whom fear the potential to be deported to a country afflicted by organized crime, fewer job prospects, and discrimination.

“It is important to go out and vote to protect ourselves. I don’t know if it’s just about what we can gain. It’s also about raising awareness about what we can lose. Kamala Harris is in our favor,” Medina said. “Let’s go out and vote without fear that our voice is heard, and that our rights are respected.

“I am inviting you to go out with us to knock on doors and touch hearts we can make the difference with Kamala Harris as President of The United States.”

“The future that our communities and families deserve”

Co-Deputy Director at Make the Road Action PA Diana Robinson rounded out the event telling the crowd that they would fight for what they wanted and needed and continue that fight “for the future that our communities and families deserve.”

As the group headed into the church to enjoy a free lunch together, Mayor Matt Tuerk made an appearance after noticing the SEIU workers at the event. A noted Harris supporter, Tuerk said Allentown is “critically important” for the election, and seeing an assembly of Democratic supporters was refreshing.

“We are about productive dissent, right? We are the party of ‘We don’t agree on everything, but we agree on some fundamental principles and some fundamental values,’ and while not everybody agrees with all of the policy positions of Vice President Harris, there are people who feel like we’re listening,” Tuerk said.

“That’s what we do, is we listen, and we believe in decency. So we have an opportunity to forge a better nation together, and that’s what we do when we get together on this.”

Reflecting on the rally before heading in to grab some food with her compatriots, Robinson was happy to see the engagement, but also wholly prepared for a future which would include knocking on close to two million doors, and speaking directly to people from a variety of backgrounds across the Commonwealth in order to get Harris over the finish line — a goal to be followed by the continued fight for accountability.

“I think what’s important is our communities,” Robinson said. “You know, we’ve been part of this work for a long time, and we know that no candidate is perfect, and there’s always going to be work to be done. We’re going to get past November 5 and then fight for the policies and changes that we want to see.”

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